This unit explores anticipated futures that are found in popular culture with the intention of providing a critical theological response to developing technologies and their likely impact on humanity and on human societies. Artificial intelligence, human enhancement technology, advanced surveillance techniques, and space exploration, have all given rise to both utopian and dystopian visions of the future. Students will explore science fiction novels, film and television, comic books, and gaming, among other cultural expressions, and reflect theologically on their function in the making of meaning, using interdisciplinary theological reflection.
Unit code: CT9139B
Unit status: Approved (New unit)
Points: 24.0
Unit level: Postgraduate Elective
Unit discipline: Systematic Theology
Delivery Mode: Face to Face
Proposing College: Eva Burrows College
Show when this unit is running| 1. | Analyse the depiction of developing technologies in a variety of popular culture expressions. |
| 2. | Provide a critical theological account of utopian and dystopian visions of the future. |
| 3. | Critically engage ideas about future societies in popular culture, utilising Christian eschatology. |
| 4. | Respond theologically to the likely impact of technological development on the human societies of anticipated futures. |
Postgraduate: 900 level elective unit May be completed as part of a suite of units in Futurism including CT8128B / CT8728B Futurism and Theology and CT9149B / CT9749B Humanity 3.0: Theological Responses to Trans-, Post- and Antihumanism
Engagement with popular culture depictions of possible futures, including in film, television, fiction, and gaming, set alongside scholarly literature on futurism, utilising online pedagogy and engagement with a range of guest specialists.
Burdett, Michael S. Eschatology and the Technological Future. London and New York: Routledge, 2014.
Geraci, Robert M. Apocalyptic AI: Visions of Heaven in Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and Virtual Reality. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
Little, Judith A. Feminist Philosophy and Science Fiction: Utopias and Dystopias. Prometheus, 2007.
McDowell John C. The Gospel According to Star Wars: Faith, Hope, and the Force. 2nd ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2017.
Pasulka, D.W. American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Sanders, Steven M. The Philosophy of Science Fiction Film. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2007.
Schneider, Susan. Science Fiction and Philosophy: From Time Travel to Superintelligence. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, 2010.
Segal, Howard P. Utopias: A Brief History from Ancient Writings to Virtual Communities. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, 2012.
Stevenson, Gregory, ed. Theology and the Marvel Universe. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2018.
Young, George M. The Russian Cosmists: The Esoteric Futurism of Nikolai Fedorov and His Followers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
| Type | Description | Word count | Weight (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay - Essay | 3000 | 50.0 | |
| Book Review - Film or book review | 2500 | 20.0 | |
| Oral Presentation - Class presentation | 2000 | 30.0 |
Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Maggie Kappelhoff on 6 Jul, 2020
Unit record last updated: 2020-07-06 16:12:01 +1000